Distance Education

Distance learning has been accessible to adult learners for decades, and has grown in popularity and acceptance. However, not all online schools and online degrees are created equal. Consistent with the tenets for our website, our mission is to provide you the unbiased information you need to decide whether learning via an online education is the right path for you.

Our team of distance education experts has done all the research for you. In this section of our website, you can find answers to every pertinent question you have about pursuing your education as an adult learner. We've created articles on everything from the importance of accreditation, how to avoid diploma mills, what to look for in an online school, college, university, degree, program, or course, and whether you have the personality type to succeed in online learning, among others.

Course Builder is the name of Google’s online open source software tool that is designed to let anyone create online education courses. Because of another program that Google ran called, Power Searching With Google, Google had about 155,000 students from 196 countries, which allowed Google to incorporate some practices common to online instruction with Google’s communication tools which enriched the course building software.

People assume that going to school online will completely isolate you. This couldn’t be father from the truth. Most schools will always have set real-time office hours, as well as support teams that monitor class and team bulletin boards, discussions, and respond to e-mail on a regular basis. Most of the faculty will respond to your queries within 24-48 hours if not sooner. You can speak with your instructor by e-mail, chat rooms, bulletin boards as well as instant messaging.

A lot of folks worry if employers value an online degree as much as a degree from a traditional brick and mortar school. Most studies reveal that there are certain obvious industries that embrace online degrees which are:

Andrew Patterson, MD, associate professor of anesthesia at the Stanford School of Medicine wants to revolutionize the way medical students learn. In the spirit of the Khan Academy which gives online lectures on topics for free, Patterson wants medical lectures to be accessible online. He believes that if students spend their own time viewing the online lectures, they can come to class prepared to have meaningful dialogue.

If you are frustrated at trying to pick a major because you think that your interests don’t have an application for a career-think again. One of the definitions of creativity is bringing together two different topics that aren’t typically brought together. The bringing together of your two different interests can facilitate fresh associations and in the long run, your marketability.

So you've graduated from college or an online degree program with your bachelor’s degree – maybe you're ready to jump into the job market, or maybe you're prepared to continue your studies and become a more competitive prospect for employment. If the latter sounds a little more like you, read on to learn more about how you can continue your business education from the comfort of your own home with an online MBA degree program.

The advent of distance learning has made education vastly more accessible to millions of people. But just as in any other internet industry, online education is subject to its share of scams, cons, and otherwise fraudulent activity. Fake online schools or degree mills often pose as legitimate online education institutions in order to scam money out of unwitting victims in return for illegitimate and otherwise useless “degrees.” But if you're careful, it isn't too difficult to tell a legitimate online school from a phony. Just follow these three simple steps to make sure that you don't get scammed when pursuing your online education.

My sister, Hannah, began practicing ballet very early in her life, and for as long as I can remember she has been praised for her talent in the art. Her impeccable technique, indomitable work-ethic, and advantageous physiology have all conspired toward the adulation and success she has earned in the course of her short career. It wasn't too long before she began receiving offers to study at prestigious ballet academies across the country, where she would have the opportunity to build a pre-professional resume with the hopes of someday entering the competitive world of professional ballet.

Is it true that a market driven, consumerist ideology and language dominates the discourse over online learning and distance education? Is control placed in the hands of the administrative elite seeking to enhance institutional revenue? Does market driven language shift the focus of higher level education to just another product delivered by the clicking of a mouse? Is the thrust of some for-profit school education seen as efficiency and increased market share?

Online education is often the best option for adults returning to school

For adult students going back to colleges or universities, distance learning is the most flexible choice for adults with full time jobs or busy schedules.

Continuing education For adult learners faced with competing priorities and demands on their time, distance education has its advantages. For many, the best alternative is an independent study program, which permits the learner to have control over where and when they study.

It takes a lot of discipline to go back to school as an adult. Completing your degree online can make getting ahead way easier than going to a physical campus. In fact, maybe it’s even impossible to travel to a brick and mortar college. If you’ve decided to go back to school online, congratulations on your decision. Getting a degree online will make it possible for you to climb the ladder in your existing profession, or begin a new career all together. Either way, getting ahead is synonymous with making more money.

If you’re a mother and need to work, getting an online education for a career that provides both security and flexibility will land you a job to better care for yourself and your family. In addition, there are degree programs for entry level positions that will allow you to advance within that career as your children grow up. In this way, you’ll be able to provide for your family without sacrificing the time you are able to spend with them while they are still at home.

By the time you’re accepted at an online university, you’ll have help in the form of free lectures from the best universities. There are so many advantages to help you along the way in your distance learning journey, ways to back up the information you must master in your online courses. Many prestigious universities have put some of the best lectures given by Ivy League professors on topics online students everywhere can take advantage of. The site is Academicearth.org and they are putting these kinds of outstanding lectures for free online for anyone who needs more information about the topics they are studying. With the escalating cost of learning, online education is one of the more practical and affordable ways to learn.

The US News in Education reported that online education will have a significant effect on higher education. They believe that like cell phones disrupted the land line phone model, so will online education on colleges. There is no doubt that online education is here to stay and it’s only a matter of time before all campus based institutions will have to offer their coursework online as well.

Going back to school requires motivation. Motivation is one of those skills that are incredibly important to success. However, it is also a skill that can be systematically learned. Part of the solution for attaining the skills necessary to stay motivated is by really understanding your goals. Getting a degree online while you have a family, a job and other responsibilities can be challenging. This is why you should always return to college and select an online program that you are truly interested in and that excites you.

For starters, you get an education! Even though we are bombarded by media and people famous for well, absolutely nothing- it sends an unfortunate message to everyone that they need those 15 minutes of fame to be successful in life. This approach to success is really wildly off the mark and has little to do with how the world actually works.

“Fifty years from now there will be only 10 institutions in the whole world that will deliver higher education.” –Sebastian Thrun of Udacity

edX

Harvard and MIT have put up together 60 million dollars toward a collaborative project to provide free online education as part of a new digital education project they have been working on since the fall. These two universities will announce their first offerings in free set of online courses developed by the faculty in both institutions. Harvard’s president Drew Faust said that this online effort will be part of a strategy to also help shape teaching and learning on campus. She stated that the ultimate goal is to collaborate with even more universities to host a large range of offerings on one site. The name of this initiative is called edX. Currently, edX offers grades but won’t give out degrees. To get a degree, you still have to pay. However, MIT will give out certificates for a small fee.

Online institutions must take notice of the patterns of non-traditional learners attending both traditional brick and mortar and online schools. Attrition of students, especially in the first year of college continues to rise.

The education system is being overwhelmed by the rising costs and demands. Your parents and teachers don’t often know the current real world challenges you will face. They have lived in a world that’s not going to exist anymore. Many jobs are being outsourced making it very hard to keep up with your competition because your competition isn’t going out every weekend or taking a bunch of gender study courses. Your competition is from another country like India, and they are working EXTREMELY hard.

Let’s face it, college is expensive, hard to get into, and time consuming. But that doesn’t mean that if you absolutely can’t attend a traditional college you should give up on your higher education dreams. Furthermore, if you did attend a traditional undergraduate degree program and want to get an advanced degree but can’t attend a traditional on campus graduate program you shouldn’t give up on those aspirations either. With the economy in such a poor state right now and jobs getting harder and harder to find, it actually a really important time to get an education. It seems if there’s a will there’s a way, and there are many, many people going to school online. If a smart, resourceful individual just can’t attend an on campus education, you will be sure that they are going find a quality education online which will in turn lead to a deeper acceptance for all online degrees.